CommunityGuides system is an ideal platform for public libraries to enhance their online presence and improve communication and collaboration with the community. The flexibility of the platform and its many features give public libraries a multitude of online options.
CommunityGuides Features
CommunityGuides have all the features of LibGuides, plus the following:
- Ability to define "Groups" of guides (Branch Guides, Kids Guides, Adult Guides, etc.). Groups can be defined with their own look and feel (banners, headers) and their own homepage.
- There is a 3rd account level in place meant for the basic-level user; they can create and edit their own guides but not those of other users (without explicit permission). This is great for collaboration between librarians and library interest groups (books groups, Friends of the Library, Library Trustees, local educational institutions, etc.) when creating and editing guides.
- Optional access restrictions based on IP addresses or IP ranges. The access restrictions can be placed for the entire system, for certain Groups, or for individual guides. Great if you need to limit access to certain content to in-house users only.
- Email subscription lists for guides. Users can subscribe to updates to individual guides. The guide owner decides when to send an update, and they can include a brief note to the subscribers with every outgoing email.
- Each guide has its own custom <HEAD> section, for adding custom javascript or style sheets for that one guide. You can apply special formatting, or have custom scripts for your guide only, without affecting other guides in the system. This means Kids guides can have a different look and feel from Adult guides, for example.
- Guides can have be password protected. For example, if the Board of Trustees has official documents to share, using a password-protected guide is a great (and secure) way to share information and have online discussions.
- Full discussion board available for each guide. Great for group discussions among book club members, the Board of Trustees, Friends of the Library, etc.
- Assessment tool. Need to collect formal feedback, solicit programming ideas, conduct assessment of library services, seek input for preferred book-club books, etc.? You can do it all with the CommunityGuides assessment module by creating surveys which can be presented to each guide visitor (either for specific guides or for certain Groups).
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